A blanket condemnation of the sound of horns is as silly as would be a blanket condemnation of the sound of sealed or ported speakers. My DIY fully horn loaded triamplified speakers not only please me very much but also receive much praise from fellow audiophiles who hear them.
Why not horns?
I've owned a lot of speakers over the years but I have never experienced anything like the midrange reproduction from my horns. With a frequency response of 300 Hz. up to 14 Khz. from a single distortionless driver, it seems like a no-brainer that everyone would want this performance. Why don't you use horns?
- ...
- 992 posts total
There are no two horn speakers that sound the same. There are mediocre ones, good ones, very good ones, and some that are unlistenable. There are some with qualities BUT flaws (like most vintage Klipsch designs for example) that you can either live with or not, depending on your sensibilities. Modern horns, new horn designs don't sound "honky" anymore. Rejecting all horns in block makes absolutely no sense. It's such a vast world with extremely different designs and ranging from budget to ultra high end, cost-no-object... then there's the synergy with the room, with the system... no, you just can't "loathe all horns". That's just ridiculous IMHO. |
Also I'd like to add that what a lot of audiophiles are calling "horns" are in fact merely direct radiator speakers with horn loaded mids or treble. A true horn system is fully horn loaded and very often sound more coherent. it's not easy to match a horn with a direct radiator mid/woofer and that is often where the design is flawed. |
@rolox -- +2 |
- 992 posts total